Page 19 of Their Human to Entice

“If you wish for something else, you must ask it,” Beren says, his voice holding a hint of annoyance that I’m pretty sure he saves only for me. At least I’m the only one I’ve heard him use it with. Well, me and Lyath when Lyath’s been teasing him. “You are the first human female we have had to take care of, and we do not know everything that is happening in your mind.”

I’m sexually frustrated. The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t say them. Beren doesn’t need to know it’s been more than two years since I’ve gotten laid. He’s done his part in making sure I get to stay on this planet with my friends. That’s all I can really ask of him.

“I’ll be fine,” I say again, this time keeping my eyes level with his and not backing down when his jaw ticks back and forth. “I can stay in the great hall tonight if you guys want your privacy. I hate feeling like an intruder in your life.”

“You are my mate,” Beren’s icy tone makes it seem like he would prefer me not to be. “I take care of my mates. You stay in my home.”

“I’m just saying if you guys want your privacy away from—“

Beren steps closer to me, a hand on either side of my head, pinning me against the door to the great hall. My words die in my throat as I see the intensity of the look in his red eyes. Oh, I’ve really done it now. I was trying to be helpful, and I’ve managed to piss him off even more.

“I take care of what is mine.” Beren lowers himself until his face is level with mine. “You are mine.” His forehead touches against mine, his red eyes taking up all of my vision as he consumes all of the air around us. “Am I clear?”

I try to nod my head, but it’s difficult with him pressing against me. He can feel the soft movement, though. His eyes flicker back to black, and his lips tug upward into what could almost be called a smile.

“I will be back for you before nightfall,” Beren says as he rises to his full height.

He reaches one hand behind him, allowing Lyath to take his hand. His smile is genuine this time when he looks at Lyath, and I wish more than anything I could have him look at me like that. When he tells me I’m his, when he says he wants to protect me, it makes me think maybe he wants me. Then, he looks to Lyath like he’s the most amazing male on the planet, and I’m reminded that they don’t want me because they have each other.

“Do not get into trouble,” Beren warns me, his eyes flicking over the length of my body. A flash of something that I might describe as desire if I were delusional flickers across his features. His smile reaches his eyes just like it did when he looked at Lyath when he looks back into mine. Then he says something that only serves to confuse me further. “I punish mates who get into trouble.”

“If you wanted to stay with them, you probably could’ve just asked to stay with them,” Deja says to me as she furiously rips at the seams of a pair of shorts she just messed up. “They’re out there doing manual labor, so I’m sure you would’ve regretted your decision, but you could’ve done it.”

“They dropped me off here so they could have alone time.” I roll my eyes and focus back on the stitching of my shorts. I don’t like having all of my bits just freely hanging out underneath my tunic, and I’m determined to make a pair of shorts I can wear by the time Beren and Lyath come to pick me up to take me back home.

“Then stop complaining about not being near them,” Deja grumbles under her breath, but she side-eyes me to make sure I heard her.

“I thought you were trying to seduce the other demons?” Kendra asks, holding up the scraps of fabric the rest of us have thrown into a pile. I snort a laugh when I see she’s made what can best be described as a bralette and a thong out of the scraps. She turns to Olivia, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Care if I change into these now?”

Olivia’s cheeks stain bright pink when she sees what Kendra’s holding up, and then she shakes her head with a smile on her lips. “Rules are rules, Kendra. No nudity in the dining hall.”

“Rules shmules,” she laughs before standing from the table and taking off down one of the hallways.

“She’s going to come back out here dressed in only that,” Diane tells us all as if we aren’t acutely aware of just how free Kendra is in everything she does.

“Where are her mates?” Olivia looks around the dining hall and waves down Kendra’s mates. Xoth is the first to us, and Olivia whispers something in his ear that has him trying to hide a smile. Erkoz shows up just as Xoth is standing up and clasps him on the shoulder.

“Kendra has new clothing that Olivia thinks we will enjoy,” Xoth tells Erkoz, who looks right down the hallway Kendra disappeared down.

“Well, let us go see if this is true,” Erkoz says. He looks down at the rest of us, all working on our sewing skills, which are slowly but surely improving. His eyes snag on me for a moment, and then his smile doubles in size. “When are you going to have my brothers woo you? I would like to watch it because I think it will be very entertaining.”

“Erkoz.” Xoth frowns at him, but even I don’t miss the way he looks at me to see my answer, almost like he’s just as interested. Life here really doesn’t have much going on if my wanting to find a demon to sleep with is the best entertainment. “Leave the females alone.”

“Fine, but only because our female needs our attention.” Erkoz smiles at all of us before running off down the hallway where Kendra disappeared.

Xoth watches him for a moment before leaning down and whispering something to Olivia. Her face remains bright pink as she shoos him away with a giggle. Xoth looks back over to me, shakes his head, and follows after Erkoz.

“What was that about?” Deja asks, pointing her needle at Olivia in an accusatory manner. “Do I need to go tell your mate that other males are making you blush?”

Olivia lets her head fall back against her chair and lets out a long laugh. “I’ll be telling him about it tonight,” she says with a wave of her hand. “No, they were apparently tasked with keeping an eye on Nia. Since I’ve asked them to go handle their mate, they’ve told me I have to make sure she doesn’t find herself in any trouble.”

A choking sound between a laugh and a gasp escapes my lips before I can stop it. “What?”

“It’s just males being males,” Olivia says as she returns to her sewing. “Your mate just wants to make sure you’re safe.”

I nod my head, trying not to give away just how flustered I am by her confession of what Xoth asked of her. Of course, my mind takes me back to the threat Beren gave me before he and Lyath left for the farm. Olivia doesn’t seem to know about that part, about the threat of punishment that didn’t seem much like a threat and more like something I want. She also thinks it’s normal mate behavior, which makes me wonder if I’m getting my hopes up for nothing.

“All right, enough about territorial males and more about how we’re going to let the others know that you’re an available female.” Deja wiggles her brows at me, letting her fabric fall to the table along with her needles and thread. “Dath won’t be back for a few more days, so I’m free, and I want to help.”

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